LEMOORE, Calif. – A handful of notable fighters claimed victory at Thursday’s “Tachi Palace Fights 7: Deck the Halls” event, but it was “The Ultimate Fighter 11″ cast member Seth Baczynski who stole the show in a thrilling one-round affair with UFC and WEC veteran Tim McKenzie.

In a back-and-forth scrap, Baczynski snatched a shocking victory from “The Wrecking Machine’s” grip – literally – though “The Polish Pistola” appeared to suffer a gruesome injury in the process.

The Baczynski-McKenzie matchup served as just one of several memorable moments at TPF 7, which took place at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif., and aired live on MMAjunkie.com.

Baczynski and McKenzie each came out aggressively from the opening bell, and after a few grappling exchanges and traded punches, Baczynski delivered a crushing knee that dropped McKenzie to the canvas.

But as Baczynski went in for the finish, McKenzie (12-8 MMA, 0-2 TPF) scrambled up and locked in a perfectly timed armbar attempt. Baczynski, in obvious pain, rolled with the hold and eventually retracted the arm – though not before it was torqued in completely unnatural fashion.

Despite the apparent injury, Baczynski (12-6 MMA, 1-0 TPF) swept all the way to top position and pounded down thunderous elbows that forced referee Josh Rosenthal to halt the fight two minutes and 15 seconds into the opening round.

IRVIN, CHAMP DEJESUS FIND DISAPPOINTMENT IN CO-HEADLINERS

In the evening’s main event, snakebitten UFC veteran James Irvin was unable to build on a recent win on the regional circuit, and Brazilian submission ace Jorge Oliveira took advantage of an early mistake to claim a win by tap-out.

Originally scheduled as a light-heavyweight fight, Irvin was unable to reach the required limit, and the fight took place as a 212-pound catchweight affair. “The Sandman” did land an early trademark bomb, but it would be his only bright spot.

Despite winding up in top position following a scramble, Irvin still managed to land in trouble.

Looking for a powerful ground-and-pound blow, Irvin postured up, but when he fired the desired blow, he left his arm hanging dangerously behind. Oliveira (5-2-1 MMA, 1-0 TPF) seized the golden opportunity to lock in a triangle choke-armbar combination, and Irvin (15-8 MMA, 0-1 TPF) was forced to tap just 93 seconds into the opening frame.

In the evening’s co-feature, American Top Team’s Micah Miller dominated Tachi Palace Fights featherweight champion Isaac DeJesus, but “Maverick” did not bring home the title.

Miller was unable to register any less than 146.4 pounds at Wednesday’s weigh-ins, and the fight was contested as a non-title affair.

It didn’t slow down Miller.

The lanky Miller earned an early takedown and simply swarmed his smaller opponent. Working to full mount, Miller (17-4 MMA, 2-0 TPF) secured a firm base and waited for DeJesus to roll over before locking in a fight-ending rear-naked choke. DeJesus tried to work his chin into the hold to buy space, but he was forced to tap at the 4:11 mark of the first round.

His second non-title loss in as many fights, DeJesus (9-3 MMA, 1-2 TPF) retains his belt.

Martinez proved a worthy adversary, and his defensive grappling skills were evident throughout the opening two rounds as he worked over and over to fend off chokes from da Silva. In the third, Martinez (13-4 MMA, 0-1 TPF) even went on the attack and landed a series of impressive strikes while keeping “Formiga” at bay.

In the end, it didn’t matter.

The smooth grappling of da Silva (9-0 MMA, 1-0 TPF) left him in control for most of the fight, and while he was unable to gain a finish, he did do enough for a clear-cut unanimous-decision win.

ALESSIO WINS VACANT TITLE

In another notable affair, longtime veteran John Alessio picked up Tachi Palace Fights’ vacant welterweight title by securing a third-round TKO over local favorite Phil Collins.

Alessio took a patient approach to the contest in the opening two rounds. In fact, “The Natural” was so calm in his approach, he appeared to let the rounds slip away to his opponent, who stayed just slightly more active as he circled and occasionally jabbed.

But in the third, Alessio slipped a short left-hand counter to Collins’ (9-6 MMA, 2-2 TPF) dome, and “The Pain” went crashing down. Alessio (31-13 MMA, 2-0 TPF) pounced for the finish and earned it just 35 seconds into the frame.

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